Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125577
~ ·W O O D S SWEEPS TROJAN CLASS A,SCOTT COPS MAIN z.. ~ _ ..; .. on the third lap. Ste ve held sec ond to the wire with Mulder winding up rourth• The C Main got with BI1l Todd and Ralph Waldman, both JAP mounted, !tghtIng lor the lead, when suddenly coming up through them like a cavalry charge was Lee Stumpenhaus (E so) who moved In to take the lead and the win with Todd second and Waldman third . Finishing lourth was Randy Ellis (JAP) . The B Main was mo re prool or Keith Mashburns ablll ty to adapt hlmsel! quickly to dl!!erent track conditions as he Jumped Into the lead ahead or Sunny Nutter (JAP) who r eally gets an .. E" lor eflort as he leaned on Keith all the way to the chec kered !lag, but was not able to lind the way around him . Having an adhesion problem I n the corners was third place Larry Helnselman ( JAP) who mus t have passed the pr obl em on to Bruce Haserot (Eso) who llnlshed l ourth. When ask ed Mas hburn how he was able to go so l as t In th e Main event, he mumbl ed something about his sponsor usi ng some parts ol l a hay baler that he had j unked out. orr ~ ~ o Wltha'ew IIIOre ClauA rae.. under his be lt, Davi Aldana should becoml a real threat. Story by Mike Capallte Photos by Dennis Greene SOUTH GATE, cu ., Sept:S - The Class A Speedway action at Trojan Raceway started orl with a bang Sunday night wi th an entry list that Incl uded rider s lrom Northern Call!or nla as well as th e r egulars. All eyes were on l ast qualI!ler Rick Woods (E s o), who was paired In the !irst heat with Elliott Schultz (E so) - and Schultz has the South Gate track down pretty pat. When the !lag was dropped, Woods shot to the l ead and although Schultz tried every trick In the book to catch him , Rick' s cornering style kept him out In tront . lor th e win. It looked to be a Rtck Woods night as he proceeded to win all !tve or his heat races which meanthe had beaten fnery r ider In the program becaus e, In the course or the twenty heat races, every r ider rides against every other r i der at least onc e. As he was out f or that race, the alternate rider !tiled In l or him , and when he was due to ride again, they hadn' t repaired the chain yet , so the alternate once m or e f111ed I n lo r hi m . When It was time lor Gordy's thir d r i de, he was ready and on the line when the !lag dropped, but atter the lIrst lap, his r ear chain snapped , whi pped up and cracked him across the back. He pulled In to the Infield to check what had happened and whil e he was l ooking down at the machine, the pr imary chain jumped the sprocket - so he j ust hung It up f or the night and allowed Ralph Waldman ( JAP), whohadjourneyod down lrom Fairfiel d and made llrst alternate, to fill In fo r him . Second alternate was Davi d Aldana (JAP) , also l ooking real good; a f ew more races and he Is goi ng to be another threat. The · winners ol the lour fastest heat r aces compr ised th e Trophy Dash and the lineup was as Impr essive as you co uld want wi th Woods (ESO) , Schul tz (Eso) , Eddie Mulder ( Eso) and Steve Scott (JAP) on the line. A lthough Woods had alr eady beaten each or the other ri ders In the heat r aces, he looked f or . and got the opportunity to jump th e . starter by about four leet, and this was enough to get him to the corner fir st. He too k the lead and was corneri ng to hold It , backing I t In high and then cutting l ow to the cor ner so no ODe could get under him. Behind him was a battle between Scott and Schultz with Schultz com ing In under Scot t and taklng runnerup slot on the second lap only to have Scott dive In under him and grab It back Scott Scoots As luck, lInl shlng positions and race times would have It, the lineup lor the A Main was the sam e as the T rophy Dash , but this time the s tarter had his eye on Woods and the start was even . AMA Says No orr Contrast In eornerln, sly lIS dlsplaYld by Bruel Hasllot (outsldl) and Kolth Mashburn. G.eWoods, RlelIWoods'lItt1e 1I'01ller, scored win In IIlnl·blb TT exlllbitloa. Joe Chankly encounters handlln,problllllS. A new competitor looking good his llrst t1me on the Trojan oval was top -l'lUIIdng AMA oovlce Keith Mashburn who w1ll de!1n1tely be a threat In thls type or racing as his progress could be noted through the evening. HIs cornering was rough for a l ew races W be got the leel or the track: In fact In his secood race he spun out In the corner but had the machine In control so well that he didn't even fall down. As the program continued his style got smoother and quicker right up the the MaIns. Keep an eye on thls lad, he I s one or the most versatile riders around as he excels In all facets or m otor cycling and w1ll soon be giving the top boys a rough ~ to go. .J Tough Luck Time Hard luck award l or the evening unequlvocably goes to Gordon Williams (JAP) who pulled up to the line for his !irst heat race only to l ook behind him and see his chain 1yInlt on th e track. .i : BILL Trophy Daxll winner Rick Woods reellv.. his ,o ld Irom a 10vl1y roproslOtatl.. 0' thl Cat Patch In W11lltl... KRAUSE'S i;.,.'h uoroecrc u. Dr.", ..,.-' ' If,RCf ~r f' f,R1S & ACCf SSORJE S[lE fl. HONDA/ ~ /YAMAHA Ir~ TW snUTHlArW LA •• '._ood • '"-O4l» • • '1~1S ( & o t c .. ..'w rr 'ISO) ~ • BMW • GREEVES • MOTO·BETA We are sure sorry to see the Jack Rabbits and the Hllltoppers have to pay the penalty or having no point runs In 1969 . ThIs hits particularly hard at the sc rambles because we're having troubl es anyhow, wi th everything getting so big tha t a l ot or th e fun has gone out or It and cl ubs have decided .. what the heck" and won' t throw scrambles any mo re. Now two or th e cl ubs who throw good scram bles have been decked fo r 1969 and alth ough we reali ze that rules and laws must be enforced and no one believes In that good ol d rule book m or e than we, It' s s till a shame to see this happen . Not only tha t, we know lrom personal experience how m uch work It I s to figure results . We figured out the Powder Pufl Associations sc rambles results alone and I t t ook all the living room and two days to do It and we finally had to ask one of the other members to take over the for m s that have to go back to Wor thington lor th e National points - and th ese were l or a scrambl esl Desert results are much haider and the Gr eenhorn absolutely boggles the Imagination! SInce the r iders were Inv er ted, Rick was on the outside and he !1gured to take his Eso In high and tben dive under when the others drifted out, but he must have forgotten to clear this strategy with his competitors as they failed to drift out and Woods found himself running In last place with three or the hardest men In the game to pass In tront of him. Try as he would, Rick had to settle for fourth place and his !irst loss or the evening. TakIng advantage of his Inside starting position, Scott jumped out In front like a man possessed and rode like he was riding lor American motherhood, apple pie and the mortgage on the old homestead as he was getting terrl!lc slides through the corners and really putting the power to the ground com ing out. Schultz found hlmsel! hardpr essed to keep up and ended up concen trating his etrorts on keepi ng Mulder behind him In the thir d place slot , and that's the way they llnlshed. The Trojan track I s getting more and more publicity due to I ts fas t action and the l act that the stands are closer to the track so the fans can see the action be tter . l! you are worried about the rac es bei ng held on a Sunday night because you have to go to work or to sch ool the next day, r emember that the show Is over by 10:00 p.m , due to curlew so you can always get home In time for a good night's sleep. (Re sulls on page 20) Remember the Old Timers Race we all want for the opening or th e new Huntington Beach track? A coupl e or weeks ago we wrote to Blll Berry, Executive Director of the A MA, asking permission l or Eddi e Mulder aild Larry WIlburn to r i de, as they both have their nam es OD the District 37 perpetual trophy . Back cam e a very nice letter tr om B111, which we quote In part. .. Pr ores slonal riders holding Exp ertcompetitiOD licenses may not participate In any Spor tsman Scrambles, Short Track, DIrt Track or Road Rac es. 1 am very sorry but we do not have the authori ty to waive thi s rule l or anybody. You may recall that Skip Van L eeuwen was set on the l enc e f or violating this rule. " Once again we know that rules have to be upheld (alth ough where the heck Is It I n the current rule book for pr ores slonal competl tlon?), and It' s a disappointment to both the men Inv ol ved, but we have a neat Idea. Why not let Mulder start the race and Wilburn end It? They both want to be there 1! only to spectate. Our personal reaction to this rule ? It' s always been interesting to us that th e Experts are only forbidden to ride sportsman events where spectator lees are paid. They can ride the desert until they turn blue If they wish and everyone knows that desert clubs make more money from throwing one desert race than a scrambles club does on two runs or more Wlder current circumstances. So...the reason of " Well, we did It so that the clUbs doo't become too proresslonal, they were makIng too much money anyway•.•, " doesn' t hold water (no, the perSOll that quote came trom remains privileged In!onnaUon). Second thought Is If that rule were strictly enforced you'd have lost over half your big-time Experts two years ago. In every District but this ooe the Experts ride and the District Referees look the other way and as a matter of · fact some of them sneak out In this ODe too, and WE all look the other ~l Anyway, Huntington Beach Is great. We rode It last week and It' s more fun than Prado. It's not as fast but only because the sweeper onto the straight Isn't like the fast hall-mile we had at Prado. The rest or the track Is great and we think It was laid out to stop super-high speeds from building up while stlll allowing those with big bikes to have some fun once again. There's even one neat 11ttle " S" bend where we suspect some or the riders will be needing r ib pads. II's just built f or elbows up the air. We can 't walt l or Opening Day l r ANSWERING WANT .ADS • SAY YOU SAW IT IN CYCLE NEWS ~sl~\\O' 9all~\\ & development co. U.S. Distributor GARDNER CARBURETOR 269 Gran e Ave. Gol eta. Calif. 9IlI?